I have crazy stories about being stranded in Italy, spending an unplanned night in Rome, eating fried chicken in Georgia, getting back to San Francisco and more but mostly I left 10 kilos in Italy. Yep. You can have them, Italy. Send them to the south.

Something sharp is LODGED in my foot after several days at the beach in Levanto. Yesterday the surf was really rough (2nd day of red flag) and i took a beating along the rocky sea floor and as I came out must have hit a sharp rock or a peice of glass or something that is now really not ready to come out of my heel. This is problematic considering I am suppose to travel for 20 hours in a day or two.

Italy is almost a memory. I’m in Florence for my final couple of days running errands and buying olive oil and repacking, being hot and humid, wearing dirty clothes. I’m sick of eating. I’m sick of shopping. I want to go home.

What I will miss of Italy will be a few of the people I’ve met, and they aren’t even around right now or they have left the country too so it’s quite lonely. J is off in Sri Lanka and isnt even available for a good phone call. Maybe I’ll visit my favorite neighborhood bar, even though its on the other end of town from my hotel. I also managed to screw up my itinerary in my head and book one less night in the hotel than I need, so I have to change hotels the night before my flight, to who knows where, which sucks, because my current place upgraded me to a king bed and my own bathroom, and it has air conditioning, and I cannot really even put the value of that into words.

Wish me luck everyone, I’ve got a rough ending coming up.

I had a wonderful weekend via smart car in less traveled Italy only to have my purse and everything possibly very valuable to me inside it at the time on the bus ride from the car drop off to my apartment. Mostly I was in Castagnetto Carducci and Bolgheri, but hit San Gimignano and others on the way.

Last weekend I took a trip to Cinque Terre and spent a few hours on the way in Pisa (quite underwhelming). Cinque Terre is right up there with Big Sur for favorite places ever and because of its accessibility and the presence of cheap eats and fresh seafood, I might even like it better than good ole’ California. It is one of the most romantic and wonderful relaxing places I’ve ever been.

I went with two roomates who ditched me after half a day but I met an English girl and spent a whole day with her–she was very interesting and a great relief from my boring, bordering unbearable roomates.

I ate Pecorino (three ages) with honey (2 kinds), foccacia with tomato sauce and mozarella bufala, Prociutto with melon, tiramisu, linguini with Bahi Bahi (a local crustatian similar to a lobster) in a light tomato sauce, ravioli veal with ragu, and drank a local white wine varietal, cappucino, Barbera, and more.

This is overdue. Two weekends ago I visited Siena. I found it to be small and the food to be overpriced and under-quality, but the shoe and pastry shopping was good and the historical architecture was quite interesting and refreshing after the bustle and endless streets in Florence.